Detachable tray unit

ABSTRACT

A TRAY UNIT INCORPORATING TWO HALF TRAY UNITS AND STRUCTURAL DEVICE FOR DETACHABLY INTERCONNECTING THE UNITS TO FORM A COMPLETE CARRYING TRAY.

Sept. 20, 1971 H. HARRISON DETACHABLE TRAY UNIT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 19, 1969 0.NA 5:1. mw. al

m f w 8 Sept. 20, 1971 H. HARRISON 3,606,069

DETACHABLE TRAY UNIT Filed Feb. 19. 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Herfze/ Harrison INI/I'JN'I'UK.

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Herze/ Harrison 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVI'IN'I'UK.

Mza/Muay M510 United States Patent 3,606,069 DETACHABLE TRAY UNIT Hertzel Harrison, North Miami, Fla. Mercury Manu- ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A tray unit incorporating two half tray units and structural devices for detachably interconnecting the units to form a complete carrying tray.

The present invention generally relates to tray units such as those employed in hospitals for serving meals to patients and more particularly a tray unit constructed from two detachably interconnected tray units which form a complete carrying tray when assembled.

As is well known, serving of foods at different temperatures to a consumer presents considerable problems especially in hospitals where a plurality of patients must be rapidly and quickly served. One conventional procedure presently employed is the provision of insulated carts having one compartment which is heated and another compartment retained in a cold or cooled condition. Each compartment includes a plurality of shelves each supporting a half tray with the half trays being loaded with appropriate foods in the kitchen and the cart then being conveyed to the oor of a hospital in which the meals are to be dispensed to the patients. A plurality of carrying trays are provided with the person serving the `meals then placing on the carrying tray an appropriate half tray with food items thereon from the hot compartment and an appropriate half tray with food items thereon from the cold compartment with the carrying tray with the two half trays thereon then being carried to the conventional bed table of the patient and deposited thereon in the conventional manner. It will be appreciated that the carrying tray has no function whatsoever except for retaining the two half trays in assembled postion thereon and the carrying trays must be picked up and cleaned in the same manner as the half tray units thus requiring the expenditure of considerable effort and time to retain the carrying trays in clean condition.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a detachable tray unit which basically includes two half tray units which are detachably interconnected to form a complete tray thereby completely eliminating the carrying tray for eliminating the initial cost of such carrying trays as well as eliminating the time and expense of cleaning the carrying trays and reducing the over-all weight of the tray assembly to be delivered to the patient by the person serving the meals.

The present invention has for one of its objects the provision of a connector securing two half tray units together into a single carrying tray which securely but frictionally detachably interconnects the mating adjacent edges of the half tray units.

Another object of the invention is to provide a connector in the form of a stainless steel connector member extending completely across the width of the tray and including flat leaf springs engaging the surfaces of the flanges formed on each edge of the tray units.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a connector including brackets that are attached to opposite flanges of one of the half tray units and frictionally engaging the iianges on an adjacent half tray unit.

Still a further object of the present invention is to 3,606,069 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 provide a detachable tray unit which is simple in construction, easy to use, secure and retaining the tray units assembled and easy to sanitize.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmental perspective view of a cart illustrating the manner in which the half tray units from the hot and cold compartments in the cart are assembled on a shelf provided on the door of the cart;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 2-2 of lFIG. l illustrating the structural details of the connector;

FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 3 3y of FIG. 2 illustrating further structural details of the connector assembly;

FIG. 4 is a fragmental perspective view of the connector illustrating the at leaf spring structure associated therewith;

FIG. 5 is a fragmental perspective view illustrating another embodiment of connector assembly including connector plates having one edge thereof connected to one of the tray units and detachably receiving the adjacent tray unit;

FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 6 6 of FIG. 5 illustrating further structural details of this embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational View of the construction of FIGS. 5 and 6 observing the connector from the exterior thereof;

FIG. 8 is a fragmental perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the connector of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a detailed, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 9-9 of FIG. 8 illustrating further structural details of this embodiment of the invention.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 1-4 of the drawings, the assembled tray unit in FIG. 1 is generally designated by the numeral 10 and includes two half tray units designated by numerals 12 and I14 respectively. The tray units 12 and 14 each includes a substantially flat bottom 16 and upwardly inclined side edges 18 and an upwardly inclined end edge 20 with the other end of the tray unit being open. The inner periphery of the inclined side walls I18 and the inclined end wall 20` is smooth but the outer surface thereof is provided with an enlarged flange area projecting laterally therefrom and designated by the numeral 22 thus defining a substantially laterally disposed horizontal and downwardly facing surface to facilitate grasping of the tray units 12 and 14.

The tray units 12 and 14 are supported in a mobile cart generally designated by the numeral 24 which has a hol: compartment 26 and a cold compartment 28 each of which is provided with a plurality of shelves 30 slidably supporting the half tray units 12 and 14 respectively. The cart 24 is insulated and provided with the usual wheels 32 and a closure door 34 for each compartment. One or both of the closure doors 34 is provided with a collapsible wire shelf 36 for supporting the tray units 12 and 14 during assembly. The cart 24 is of conventional construction and the shelf 36 is also of conventional construction in that previouslly known arrangements employed the use of a carrying tray or mother tray receiving the two half trays therein. With the present invention, the carrying tray or mother tray is completely eliminated and the two half tray units are interconnected by a connector generally designated by the numeral 38 and which includes a at bottom plate or strap 40 which underlies the bottoms 16 of the half tray units 12 and 14 and bridges the juncture line therebetween.

At each end of the bottom plate or strap 40, there is provided an upwardly and outwardly inclined wall 42 which terminates in an outwardly extending horizontal flange 44 that underlies the downwardly facing horizontal flange surface on the enlarged area 22 of the wall 18. The outer edge of the horizontal flange 44 terminates in an upturned flange 46 which in turn terminates at its upper edge in an inturned flange 48 which is disposed in overlying spaced and substantially parallel relation to the flange 44 whereby the flanges 46, 44 and 48 define an inwardly opening channel with it being pointed out that a similar construction is provided at both ends of the bottom plate or strap 40 and that this structure generally conforms with the external surface of the half tray units with the width of the connector 38 bridging the juncture therebetween as illustrated in FIGS. 1-4.

A llat leaf spring 50 overlies the flange 44 and the two outer ends thereof are reversely bent as at 52 with a small portion thereof underlying the flange 44 as indicated by numeral 54. The center of the flat leaf spring 50 is upwardly bowed and is normally spaced away from the upper surface of the flange 44 but when the surface of the spring 50 comes into frictional contact with the undersurface of the enlarged edge 22 of the wall 18, it will be forced downwardly against the surface 44 or adjacent thereto for frictionally locking the connector to the halt` tray unit. At the center of the flat leaf spring Sil, an upstanding U-shaped projection 56 is provided which delineates the two sides of the spring 50 and is located generally at the center of the connector so that the two half units will engage the center upstanding U-shaped projection S6 and thus limit it as to the degree of insertion into the connector.

As the half tray units 12 and 14 are removed from their respective compartments, the connector 38 will initially be connected to one of the tray units by telescopically engaging the open end edge of the tray with one end edge of the connector and telescoping the connector onto the tray unit until the end edge of the tray unit abuts the projections 56 thereon. The other half tray unit is than assembled with the connector and by exerting inward force on the outer ends of the two tray units, complete assembly of the half tray units 12 and 14 with the connector 38 will be assured. Due to the tight fitting relationship of the channels of the connector and the springs 50 which eliminate any looseness, wobbling or the like, the connector will effectively retain the half tray units in assembled condition so that they may be handiled in substantially the same manner as a mother tray or carrying tray and the assembled tray unit will enable handling of the tray unit without danger of accidental disconnection thereof.

The tray units are constructed of conventional material such as fiber reinforced plastic material and the like while the connector is preferably constructed of stainless steel or the like thus enabling the connectors as well as the trays to be easily sanitized, sterilized or the like. To facilitate insertion of the tray units into the channels, the uppermost flange 48 may be slightly deformed upwardly at the outer ends thereof to provide somewhat of a funnel shapt to the end edges of the channels which combined with the rounded ends 52 of the springs will serve to facilitate guiding of the tray units into the channels at the opposite sides of the connector 38. With the connectors removed, all of the tray units are of identical construction thus facilitating their handling, cleaning and the like and also facilitating the removal of the dishes therefrom and placement of food items thereon in the kitchen thus facilitating the entire feeding operation. The connectors are preferably constructed of stainless steel which will retain its structural characteristics even during long use and abuse and will also enable the connectors to be easily cleaned, sanitized, sterilized or the like.

The projection 56 will be relatively thin so that by slight canting of the tray units, the bottoms 16 thereof will be in abutting engagement to prevent the possibility of litems becoming deposited between the adjacent edges of the tray units.

FIGS. 5-7 illustrate another embodiment of the invention in which the connector is generally designated by the numeral 60 and is in the form of a bracket oriented at each side of the tray units. In this construction, each of the connectors or brackets 60 includes a bottom plate or panel 62 underlying the bottom of the tray unit designated by the same reference numerals as in FIGS. l-3. The outer edge of the bottom plate 62 is provided with an upwardly extending and outwardly inclined wall 64 terminating in an outwardly extending ledge or flange 66. The outer edge of the llange 66 terminates in an upwardly extending flange 168 `which terminates at its upper edge in an inwardly extending flange 78 whereby the flanges 66, 68 and 70 cooperate to define an inwardly opening channel in substantially the same manner as the channel formed in the connector illustrated in FIGS. l-4. In this construction, the bottom 62 partially underlies the bottom 16 of the tray unit and the inclined wall 64 engages the outer surface of the inclined wall 1.8 while the flanges 66, 68 and 70 generally conform with and engage the enlarged flange 22 formed on the upper edge of the side wall 18. Since the bottom 62 does not extend completely across the width of the tray, the bracket 60 is attached to one of the tray units such as the tray unit 14 by fasteners such as rivets or the like 72 which extend through the side wall 18 and the inclined wall 64 of the connector 60.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the vertical flange 68 is provided with a longitudinally elongated outwardly offset portion 74 receiving an elongated flat leaf spring 76 which has the outer ends thereof curved outwardly as at 78. The outturned ends 78 of the spring 76 are received in the recess defined by the outwardly offset portion 74 of the flange 68 and is secured in place in the recess by virtue of substantially one-half of the spring 76 being received between the enlarged flange 22 on the wall 18 of the tray and the ange 68 as illustrated in FIG. 6.

In this construction, the connector 60 is preferably constructed of sheet fmetal such as stainless steel or the like and the rivets 72 are also preferably noncorrosive and nontoxic material such as sheet metal or the like while the tray units 12 and 14 are of the same conventional material. lrr this construction, the spring 76 is also constructed of stainless steel and when the second tray unit 12 is inserted into the open end of the channel defined by the ila-tiges 66, 68 and 70, it will freely move into the channel until it engages the end of the spring 76 which will then securely and frictionally secure the detachable tray unit 12 to the tray unit 14 thus retaining the hal-f tray units 12 fand 14 in assembled condition for enabling the assembled tray units to be employed for serving food to a plurality of patients in a conventional manner.

Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9 of the drawings, the numeral 80 generally designates another embodiment of the connector which includes a pair of brackets at opposite sides of a tray unit such as the tray unit .14 which is identical to the other tray units and includes a bottom 16, an upwardly inclined side wall 18 and an enlarged flange 22 thereon. The connector 8i) includes a bottom plate 82 underlying and conforming with the bottom -16 of the tray unit 14, an upwardly inclined side wall 84 lying alongside of the external surface of the side Wall 18 and secured thereto by rivets or other suitable fasteners 86. The upper edge of the side wall 84 is provided with an outwardly extending ange 88- which underlies the enlarged flange 22 and the flange 88 terminates in an upstanding vertical flange 90 which in turn terminates in an inwardly extending horizontal flange 92. The flanges 88, 90 and 92 cooperate to define an inwardly facing channel along the top edge of the connector 80 with it being understood that a similar channel will be formed in the connector 80 at the opposite side of the tray unit 14. The tray unit 12 is telescopically engaged with the connector 80 with the flange 22 thereof being received in the channel defined b'y the flanges 88, 90 and 92. The edge of the flange 92 which receives the enlarged flange 22 on the tray 12 is beveled outwardly and deformed slightly upwardly as designated by the numeral 94 thus forming a guide for guiding the tray unit 12 into assembled relation to the connector 80. Similarly, the free edge of the wall 84 may be slightly deformed outwardly to dene a similar guiding action to facilitate assembly of the half tray units. To retain the half tray unit 12 assembled with the half tray unit 14, the portion of the bottom panel or plate 82 which underlies the bottom 16 of the tray unit 12 is provided with an upwardly deformed detent 96 in the form of a conical member which will frictionally engage with the bottom surface of the tray unit 12 and retain the tray units .12 and 14 in assembled condition and at the same time bias the tray unit 12 so that the top edge of the flange 22 securely engages the top surface of the `flange 92 thus serving not only to frictionally interlock the trays but also to retain the tray units rigidly in interconnected relation to prevent looseness and relative wobble therebetween thereby providing a secure tray unit capable of being handled by persons serving food items to patients or the like without danger of the tray units becoming separated.

When employing the present invention, the connector may be either a separate unit independent of either of the half trays being connected or it may be integral either with the hot half tray unit or the cold half tray unit. While various embodiments of the invention have been illustrated, each embodiment securely but detachably interconnects the half tray units in a secure manner that will retain the half tray units in interconnected relation in a substantially rigid condition thus eliminating tray wobble or looseness an assuring that the half tray units will be retained in assembled condition while being used.

The half tray units employed in this invention may be the same as those presently employed in combination with a mother tray or carrying tray with no modification whatsoever being necessary insofar as the half tray units are concerned except that the brackets which are lixedly attached to one of the tray units are secured thereto by any conventional fastening means such as the rivets illustrated. Further, use of the present invention is compatible with presently available insulated carts which are employed for carrying the pre-prepared meals from the kitchen to the floor of the hospital or other similar institution where the meals are to be delivered to the individual patients or consumers. In addition, the use of the present invention is compatible with present day cleaning equipment employed for cleaning the half tray units, thus enabling elimination of the large carrying tray or mother tray while retaining all of the advantages of employing the half tray units.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention.l Further, since numerous modiications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An assembly which includes a bracket means which connects the open end edges of a pair of aligned half tray units for forming a carrying tray almost exactly twice the length of the half trays wherein said bracket means is detachably engaged with one of said half tray units and fixedly attached to the other of said half tray units, said half tray units being completely separable and guided and retained in abutting assembled relation by the bracket means, said bracket means including a pair of independent brackets each having an inwardly facing channel-shaped member with spring detent means located therein along one edge thereof thereby telescopically receiving and securing a llange member on the detachably connected half tray unit.

2. An assembly for connecting the open end edges of a pair of aligned half tray units for forming a carrying tray comprising bracket means engaged with both of said half tray units, said bracket means including means detachably engaging at least one of the half tray units, said bracket means being llxedly attached to the' other of said half tray units, said bracket means including a pair of independent brackets each having an inwardly facing channel-shaped member along one edge thereof telescopically receiving a flange on the detachably connected half tray unit, a llat leaf spring in each of said channels for frictionally engaging the flange on the detachably connected half tray unit.

3. IAn assembly which includes a bracket means which connects the open end edges of a pair of aligned half tray units for forming a carrying tray almost exactly twice the length of the half trays wherein said bracket means is detachably engaged with one of said half tray units, said half tray units being completely separable and guided and retained in abutting assembled relation by the bracket means, said bracket means being detachably connected to the other of the half tray units thereby enabling the half tray units to be interconnected by the bracket means, said bracket means including an elongated bottom panel extending in underlying engaging relation to the bottom surfaces of the tray units, upwardly extending llanges at each end of the bottom panel, the upper edge of each flange having an inwardly facing channel telescopically receiving llanges on the half tray units with one tray unit being telescoped into engagement with the channels from one end thereof and the other tray unit being telescoped into the channels from the opposite end thereof, and spring means in each of said channels for frictionally engaging the flanges on the half tray units for detachably securing the tray units in the channels.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said spring means is in the form of an elongated flat leaf spring having an upwardly bowed central part disposed in the bottom of each channel, and an upstanding projection on the center of each spring for limiting the insertion of the half tray unit into the channels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,734,352 11/1929" Smith 220-23.4UX 4,858,179 5/1932 Bay 220-8 2,620,082 12/1952 Harmon 220'-8 2,627,801 2/ 1953 Danziger 220-8X yGEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.-R. 220- 

